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Numb Head Help

Written by Paul B. at 13 Dec 2001 21:50:41:

As an answer to: Re: Numb Head Help written by noname at 13 Dec 2001 18:10:05:

OK, you do seem a bit light on the basics. If you have a foreskin that normally covers your glans, completely, then you are not circumcised and if you are in America, pretty lucky to boot because the medical industry there has been making huge profits for the last century or so by fraudulently claiming "benefits" to circumcision.

As such, there is a danger that if you go to an American doctor, or some less-than-ethical ones in other countries with almost any problem such as you describe, they may suggest a circumcision which of course, neither you nor anyone else, really needs.

Now, your foreskin quite likely pulls itself back when you have an erection, or at least may stay back when you do (or of course, it may not!) and if there is plenty of skin when it is pulled back, it may bunch up into "frills" behind the head as you describe. What is good about the foreskin is that this allows it to provide a "slippery" covering for the glans both for masturbation and for intercourse.

> It seems like an infection to me. The area between the head and foreskin is red and sore.

That sounds quite likely.

> Its going away slowly.

Probably OK then, though apart from the warning above that certain doctors haven't a clue about actual conditions that affect the penis and foreskin, a competent doctor's opinion having discussed it with you and actually looked at it, would certainly be helpful.

> Your saying I could have cancer? ... oh great ... more to worry about :(

No, he's not saying you could have cancer. If you had penile cancer at your age, you'd be a case for the medical journals, incredibly rare.

What he was saying is that the threat of penile cancer, which is a relatively uncommon disease of older men (mostly over seventy) caused by a combination of sexually transmitted disease and poor penile hygiene, is often argued as a reason for circumcision.

It would however be far more sensible however as my wife jokingly(?) proposed to me last evening, for women to have both their breasts removed (mastectomy) as soon as they have finished bearing children, to prevent breast cancer which is both common and often lethal.

The "take-home message" then is, forget about cancer, but always keep your penis clean. And if you did in fact have an infection, then you need to be careful that you are not causing trouble by cleaning with too much soap. You probably do not need any soap to clean under your foreskin, though it does not hurt to soap the outside part and any soapy water that then runs over the glans and foreskin is OK.

Obviously you must pull back your foreskin to wash, and I generally suggest pulling it back each time you pee so that it is well "aired". If you get an itchy, red sticky infection of the foreskin, this is usually due to Candida ("Thrush") which some girls get from time to time (and of course, guys can get it from them in the obvious manner!) and treatable with antifungals. Other than those antifungals for definite Candida, antibiotics should not be used on the penis.

Too much information here perhaps, but the intention is to give you a broad understanding of what things can and more particularly, cannot happen to the foreskin.


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